The Rundown - Canada West Final

Two teams stood between overwhelming joy and utter heartbreak in this last weekend of Canada West play. As much as we can point at the numbers and trends as reasons for this matchup to be closer than it may appear, we can't hide from the fact that the top-ranked team in the nation in the UBC Thunderbirds were hosting the newly-minted ninth-place team in the nation in the Mount Royal Cougars. One of these teams was going to win twice this weekend to capture the Canada West banner and the Catherwood Cup in preparation of playing in the U SPORTS National Championship while the other would go home, make adjustments, and find a way to break through in Montreal at the National Championship. Let's find out which team prevailed this weekend on The Rundown!

Again, before we get into the recaps, here's the bracket.

As a reminder, Mount Royal defeated the Trinity Western Spartans in three games before defeating the Alberta Pandas in three games to get to the Canada West Final. UBC earned the quarterfinal bye before they dismissed the Saskatchewan Huskies in three games to land in the Canada West Final. Who would be the best in Canada West?

In a season where an imbalanced scheduled leads to two teams not playing in a specific location, it's hard to extrapolate what may happen in a best-of-three series. UBC and Mount Royal hadn't met in Vancouver this season, but their only meeting in Calgary saw the teams split the games. We've seen both starting goalies come up big, and there have been great contributions from secondary scoring threats that have picked up the slack when the top scorers haven't been able to find ways. In short, two evenly-matched teams took the ice on Friday night with Kaitlyn Ross as the starter for Mount Royal while Elise Hugens was in the UBC crease.

Whatever momentum Mount Royal may have had after knocking the Pandas out of the playoffs was quickly snuffed out by an aggressive UBC team in the first period. It didn't help that Mount Royal was called for three minor penalties to UBC's one infraction, but the good news was that both the Cougars' penalty killers and Ross were on their games. Through 20 minutes of play, we were locked at 0-0 with UBC holding an 11-2 edge in shots.

UBC started things off in the middle frame with an early penalty, but they killed that off successfully to keep the Cougars off the scoreboard. They'd do the same midway through the period as Mount Royal missed out on another opportunity. The offensive side of the game was kicked up a notch or two in the middle frame, but the goaltenders were just as good as we'd hit the second intermission still tied at 0-0, but with UBC holding a 29-12 margin in shots.

Another early power-play for the Cougars would pay dividends in the third period. Emma Bergesen's quick shot from the top of the right face-off circle was picked off by teammate Breanna Trotter in front of the net, and her quick move as she spun caught Hugens moving the wrong way as Trotter slid the puck into the yawning cage at 5:48 to put the Cougars up 1-0!

From there, it was about defending by keeping the puck 200-feet from the Mount Royal net as the Cougars kept the pressure up. A penalty to UBC midway through the period started to make time the enemy for the Thunderbirds, and a penalty with less than a minute to play sealed the deal. Mount Royal earned the win by that 1-0 score as Kaitlyn Ross stopped 38 shots for her fifth win and third shutout of these playoffs while Elise Hugens stopped 21 shots in the setback.

Mount Royal's victory give them a 1-0 lead over UBC in this best-of-three semifinal series.

Game One highlights are below!

Mount Royal played a perfect playoff game one night earlier by staying out of the penalty box and capitalizing on their own special teams' opportunties. Granted, they gave up a crazy amount of shots, so that's something UBC can build on if they need a positive. The key on Saturday was that UBC had to find a way to win if they hoped to defend their Canada West championship. Kaitlyn Ross was back between the pipes for Mount Royal while Elise Hugens took her spot in front of the UBC goal.

The opening period saw UBC killing a penalty one minute into the frame, but they'd do so successfully. That seemed to spark the T-Birds as they marched down the ice, Mackenzie Kordic fed a cross-ice pass to Hannah Koroll, and her redirection found the back of the net past Ross at 4:50 to put the Thunderbirds up 1-0! UBC didn't let up after scoring that goal either as they continued to pummel the Cougars with shots. The good news is that no other pucks got by Ross, but the Thunderbirds hit the intermission leading 1-0 and up 14-2 in shots.

The second period felt a lot like how the first period ended as a lot of pucks were reaching Ross and not many were reaching Hugens. UBC's pressure stifled the Cougars at every turn, but they were equally thwarted by Ross in their attempts to double their lead. A late penalty to the Cougars, though, provided the needed chance for UBC as Joelle Fiala found a loose puck in front of the net with a crowd both on their feet and on the ice at the top of the crease. Fiala found room, though, as she slid the loose puck under the pile of humanity at 18:15 for the power-play goal as UBC went into the second break with the two-goal lead and 27-6 advantage in shots. Not a typo.

The third period was cracked wide open after UBC killed an early penalty. Chanreet Bassi stepped into a slapshot with Ross battling through a screen, and it got through the netminder at 8:58 for the power-play goal to make it 3-0. 52 seconds later, Mia Bierd opted to keep on a 2-on-1, and that choice was a good one as she went over the blocker of Ross to make it 4-0 for the Thunderbirds. At 12:06, it would become a 5-0 game as a screened Ross had no chance on Hannah Koroll's wrister from the high slot on the blocker side for another power-play goal.

In needing something to build on for Sunday, Aliya Jomha scored off a set play off an offensive face-off as Courtney Kollman pushed the puck forward, jumped past her check, and centered it to the driving Jomha at the near post for the easy redirection, and Mount Royal was on the board at 5-1 at the 12:38 mark. That goal would as close as the Cougars would get on this night, though, as the UBC Thunderbirds flexed their offensive prowess in a 5-1 win over Mount Royal. Elise Hugens picked up her third win with a nine-save effort while Kaitlyn Ross will need to regroup after stopping 37 shots in this game.

With the victory, the Cougars and Thunderbirds are tied at 1-1 and will require a Game Three in this best-of-three semifinal series.

Highlights of Game Two are below!

Forget the clichés and the wise adages. This game has a simple storyline: win and you're the Canada West champion. We can talk about key scorers and needing big goaltending performances, but it truly doesn't matter who scores as long as someone does. The final game in the Canada West hockey season would determine the Canada West champion, so let's get into Game Three action with Kaitlyn Ross in front of the Cougars' cage while Elise Hugens stood in the UBC end of the ice.

The first period was played somewhat cautiously as both teams were looking to limit errors. Mount Royal seemed to have a step on UBC in the opening frame as they were getting more pucks to nets, but both goalies were good through the first twenty minutes. A late penalty to the Cougars would carry over into the second period, but we'd hit the break tied at 0-0 with Mount Royal up 7-4 in shots.

Mount Royal would kill off the penalty to start the period before UBC went back-to-back with infractions at the five- and seven-minute marks. The Thunderbirds survived those penalties, though, and this goalless game continued. While both teams had chances, we'd hit the second intermission still locked at 0-0 and with Mount Royal leading 14-6 in pucks on net.

The third period saw UBC use their speed to draw a penalty early. On the ensuing power-play, Cassidy Rhodes was the recipient of a Hannah Koroll pass in the high slot, and she wired a high shot past Ross through traffic at 6:28 to put the Thunderbirds up 1-0! Another penalty was called on Mount Royal moments later, but they escaped that shorthanded situation unscathed. A UBC penalty just past the midway point of the period saw another two minutes tick off the clock as Mount Royal couldn't capitalize, and that would be the theme as time wound down as Mount Royal couldn't find twine.

When the horn sounded, the UBC Thunderbirds claimed their second-straight Canada West Championship thanks to their 1-0 win over the Mount Royal Cougars! Elise Hugens picked up her fourth win and third shutout with a 19-save performance while Kaitlyn Ross will prepare for Nationals after falling tonight in a 13-save effort.

With the win tonight, the UBC Thunderbirds eliminated the Mount Royal Cougars 2-1 in their best-of-three series, and claim their second consecutive Canada West title!

Highlights of Game Three's celebration are below!

The Champs

To the victors go the spoils, so here are your 2022-23 Canada West Champions in the UBC Thunderbirds! Congrats, ladies!

With the U SPORTS National Championship beginning in Montreal on March 16, the UBC Thunderbirds should enter the tournament as the top-ranked team in Canada. Because U SPORTS doesn't want teams from the same conference meeting one another until the Championship Final if both teams win, it's very likely Mount Royal will begin the tournament as the sixth- or seventh-ranked team with #7 seeming very likely. If everything stays at it should, that could mean a rematch from the 2020 U SPORTS National Championship with the second-ranked Toronto Varsity Blues. I'm sure we all remember what happened in PEI that weekend.

You Don't Remember?

If you need a reminder, here's what happened in the only game thus far between the Cougars and the Varsity Blues.
Tatum Amy converted the feed from Daria O'Neill for the overtime winner in the 2-1 victory over the second-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues, but they arrived back at their hotel to find out the remainder of the 2020 U SPORTS National Championship had been cancelled due to COVID-19. I'm not saying that they're going in with unfinished business, but getting the Varsity Blues first seems like the hockey gods are working on correcting an oversight in the hockey world.

Except...

The above may not happen this year if the Toronto Varsity Blues fall in the McCaw Cup Final to the Nipissing Lakers. That one-game, winner-takes-all battle will happen next Saturday at 7pm ET in Toronto, so we don't actually know if the seedings for the National Championship will change from what they current show on the U SPORTS Top Ten List.

If Nipissing were to defeat Toronto, that second-ranked position likely goes to the next team in line - the Concordia Stingers. More on this below, but there are two finals still needing to be decided to determine where teams will slot in for Nationals.

Who's In?

We know UBC and Mount Royal are in, and their seedings likely will be #1 and #7, respectively. We also know that Concordia defeated Montreal 2-1 in their best-of-three series, so Concordia will be ranked #3 at least based on their current ranking. If that were to happen, Montreal would have to be either #5 or #8 due to the finalists being in the lower-half of the seedings.

U SPORTS does this funny thing where the champions and finalists of one conference are unable to meet one another on the winning side of the bracket unless both advance to the Championship Final. That means that Mount Royal would be either #6 or #7 since the top-ranked team plays the eighth-seeded team and the fourth- and fifth-seeded teams are on their side of the bracket. With that knowledge, that likely pushes Montreal to the eighth-seed for the tournament after losing two games to Concordia this week.

I'm not sure I want to be UBC playing Montreal in their barn with their fans in those teams' first games, but that's how it might play out.

To Be Decided

As stated above, the OUA's representatives are in - Toronto and Nipissing are heading to Montreal. What we won't know is the seeding for the teams until they play their McCaw Cup game next weekend. You can watch that game for free through OUA TV.

The other series with unfinished business is the AUS Final. We know both UNB and StFX are heading to Montreal as well, but StFX holds a 1-0 lead over UNB in their best-of-three final. Game Two goes tomorrow night at 7pm AT, and you can watch that game for free on AUS TV. If needed, Game Three for the AUS Championship will be played on Wednesday at 7pm AT.

We could still see a ton of movement in the final eight rankings if both StFX and Nipissing were to win their respective championships. If those two teams were to win, the only guarantee would be that UBC is the top-ranked team. Everyone else is thrown into the rankings mixer.

The Last Word

We can debate rankings until the cows come home, but let's focus on how good the hockey was over the course of a full season this year. The UBC Thunderbirds won 24 games - that's amazing on its own! - while going 14-0-0 on home ice. The Alberta Pandas won 11 games in a row as they went on a tear through the schedule. The Calgary Dinos returned to the playoffs, and the Trinity Western Spartans checked in for the very first time in their history.

We had three Canada West players - Saskatchewan's Camryn Drever and Isabella Pozzi, and Alberta's Madison Willan - bring home gold medals for the 2023 FISU Games as those three played significant roles on Team Canada. Mount Royal's Tatum Amy and Emma Bergesen, Calgary's Sydney Mercier, and Alberta's Halle Oswald turned in impressive efforts both on and off the ice to earn conference awards while Alberta's Howie Draper showed that he's still at the top of his game while behind the bench in being named as top coach.

There will be a pile of new foot soldiers joining the nine Canada West teams next September to help those teams in their pursuit of the Canada West banner, but we should appreciate the hockey seen this season because it was incredible. Eleven players hit double-digits in goals, and eight players recorded hat tricks in games. 14 players had 20-or-more points including two rookies and two defenders. Eight goaltenders finished with goals-against averages less than 2.00, and seven finished with save percentages higher than .930.

We finished this season with four teams playing three series where all of them required the maximum number of games to find a winner. Two of those teams will head to Montreal in a week to try and bring the Golden Path Trophy back to Canada West, but it has been a privilege to recap every week of hockey played by these incredible women once again. To the teams and players, thanks for making my Sundays so great!

I will have coverage of the U SPORTS National Championship via The Rundown, and there will be some examination next week when it comes to seeding. The last edition of The Rundown will take place on March 19 - Championship Sunday at Nationals - before we close the book on 2022-23. If this is where we part, I appreciate your readership and I hope you'll be back next season. If you're sticking around for Nationals coverage, buckle up because there's a lot of hockey to recap!

Once more, congratulations to the UBC Thunderbirds, your 2022-23 Canada West champions! To Mount Royal, win it all in Montreal!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!